Student section

Today has to be the last draw. Senior Day, 50 degrees, sunny, Big Ten hopes on the line and you still can't show up? Come on, Denard, Roy, Roh, Floyd, Bill Will, Kovacs and all the rest deserved to be honored by a packed stadium. Really embarrassing. Time for Brandon to take away sections for real fans. The students have proven they don't deserve additional seats..

this is not just a Michigan thing or a football thing. I read an article about 7-8 months ago that Duke was having issues wtih student attendance at basketball games. So it appears to be a generational thing.

Student attendance at men’s basketball games has fallen consistently over the last five years, even dropping after Duke won its fourth national championship in 2010. This season, approximately 650 undergraduates have attended each game, 150 fewer than during the 2008-09 season. As a result, Duke Athletics has begun to sell an increasing number of general admission tickets in the student section on a regular basis.

Real fans show up. And cheer on their team. There are people of all ages & abilities across the stadium. Do I prefer to stand as I did from 2002-2006? Yes. But I'm not not going to be rude and block the 60-some year old lady behind me. (Who, BTW, WILL stand on 3rd & 4th downs and who is always asking for more cowbell ... That my husband brings into the stadium.) just because not someone can't stand for three hours does not make them less of a fan.

...3 years of membership and 1 post...I can sense your passion here, and I totally agree with you. In section 34, nobody stands until key moments, but I can tell you I'm a true fan like most others in the stadium. I did my time in the student section 1997-2000, standing every second of every game. Mgobluegirl and I take offense to the allegation!

I don't get what was bad about shaking keys. You do realize the vast majority of noise in the stadium is coming from voices and not hands clapping right? Screaming and shaking keys are hardly mutually exclusive. Shaking keys probably makes as much noise as clapping, and either way I'm sure the difference between them is completely insignificant.

I think largest population which buys tickets but doesn't attend games is freshman and as students get older they realize it's a waste of money if they're not going to games or selling the tickets. They're often advised to get tickets for that aspect of the college experience but as students get older the ones who buy the tickets are more likely to actually use them. That's just my observation.

I thought those HAIL points were supposed to help this all out? All I know is that I've been able to sit in the student section for ONE game in my life, and about 1/2 way through the second quarter, a group of drunk girls showed up and starting complaining that we were in their seats and that they were going to get the ushers if we didn't move. We ended up having to go back 20 rows to find some space and missed probably 5 minutes of gametime. Partially ruined the day for me. Perhaps they should CLOSE the gates and DISALLOW entry to those not in their seats by the middle of the first?

I got the impression that probably 1/4 of the students in the student section didn't really even care to be there or watch football, judging by the number of cell phones out during 3rd downs, groups of girls gossiping to one another, and general ignorance of the sport. Plus, the game I went to, we were up 21 by the mid-second, and students started to leave... probably 15% left at halftime!

Can really complain that you got kicked out of your seats by people who legitimately held the rights to those seats? Its unfortunate that you had to move and I realize very few people in the student section are in their proper seats, but in reality those are their rightful seats.

It was no more than 50 percent when the seniors were honored. This wasn't a function of people shuffling down to the lower seats. I realize it would involve getting there 20 minutes before kick off, but WTF?

The reward should be that if you show up on time every game, you get much better tickets the next year. If you miss games or are late, you get much worse tickets. Simple! Put all the no-shows in the back of the endzone, at least 50 rows up. Put passionate fans where they want, as close to the 50 as possible, either at the bottom or about half way up if they prefer.

Here is a picture I took immediately AFTER the Senior Day dedication on the field. This was approximately 6 minutes to kickoff as the National Anthem was about to be played. I think the picture speaks for itself and should end this nonsensical arguement from the students that they are in attendance but just pushed down real low

Thanks for taking the that pic. this makes me so mad. its embarassing, what do people think when they see empty seats on tv? im always in the stands so i dont see the TV coverage, but i'm sure people are thinking "why cant Michigan fill thier stadium?" there is a long list of people waiting for season tickets, lets give these empty seats to them!